Not As Evil As I Thought
by FelgaHelzio96
Summary: After the sinking of the Titanic, Rose and her mother are taken in by none other than the Lovejoys. (ALTERNATE SINKING). ONE-SHOT.


**a/n: Just another idea...James Cameron owns the characters!**

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_"Come back...Jack...there's a boat! Jack...no!"_

17 year old Rose DeWitt Bukater's eyes snapped wide open, she couldn't move, and laid there gasping for air. "Shh...it's alright Miss DeWitt Bukater," said a soft female voice somewhere above her.

It sounded like Trudy, but that would be impossible. As her eyes adjusted to the lighting of the room, she could clearly see that the girl leaning over her was definitely not Trudy, her dress was too nice. Just then, she felt a warm washcloth on her forehead, and relaxed into the sofa she was laying on.

"I had that awful nightmare again," she whispered quietly.

"Yes, yes, but it's okay now," the girl assured her with a gentle smile. Rose detected a British accent. This girl had long honey blonde hair pulled up in a curly bun, and bright seafoam colored eyes, like Jack's had been. Looking into the girl's eyes made her sad. This girl was taking care of her, just like Jack had taken care of her on the Titanic.

Rose sniffled and wiped some tears away from her own eyes. "Thank you for your kindness, Miss...?" she trailed off, realizing she hadn't the slightest clue who this girl was.

"Earls, nee Lovejoy. But you can call me Stephanie," the girl told her with a smile. "And I know you're Rose DeWitt Bukater, my father was your ex-fiancee's valet."

Rose nodded, faintly remembering overhearing Mr. Lovejoy telling her mother Ruth about his family one night on the Titanic. He'd separated from his wife and she'd moved back to England where they were originally from with their three sons, while he stayed in the United States with his eldest child, his 23 year old daughter Stephanie.

Spicer Lovejoy was very fond of his daughter, she recalled. He'd told her mother that she was married to a nice law student by the name of Harold Earls with two small children and one on the way. As much of a menace as Rose thought Lovejoy was, she'd heard of his soft spot for his family, his evil-nature was just him doing the job he'd been paid to do. To support his family.

Rose looked down to see that Stephanie no longer appeared to be pregnant. However, any rising questions were immediately answered by a blood curdling wail coming from down the hall. "You must excuse me Miss Rose, I have to get baby ," she said, getting up.

"Oh, of course," she said. Finally feeling a bit stronger, Rose forced herself to sit up. She was sitting in a small parlor room, with rich cream colored walls, warm lamps, and a roaring fire in the fireplace. On the sofa across the room, she noticed her mother sleeping. _Why am I here? _She couldn't help but wonder. She didn't even know how she'd gotten there. Wherever "there" even was.

Just then, everything came flooding back like a whirlwind exploding in her mind...

_Hiding in steerage on the Carpathia, so Cal wouldn't find her. Only to be found hours later by her mother and Cal's valet Lovejoy. She'd pleaded with her mother and told her about how Cal had shot at her and Jack, with a bullet missing her head by mere inches. _

_Then she told her the real truth about how Cal had treated her. Deeply upset at the realization of Cal's abusive nature, she took pity on her only daughter, knowing Cal wouldn't take care of her without Rose in the picture anyways. _

_Lovejoy had agreed to sneak them home with him to his home in Chicago where he lived with his daughter and her family. _

_Chicago! That's where she was! That's why Stephanie was taking care of her!_

Suddenly, she felt someone poke her arm, interrupting her reverie. She slowly opened her eyes, which had closed again, to see a little boy with honey blonde hair and seafoam eyes. Next to him, stood a younger boy, he looked a lot like his older brother with honey blonde hair and seafoam eyes, too.

"Who is you?" the elder one asked, his curious toddler eyes bright.

"Oh, um, my name is Rose," Rose replied, smiling at the little boys.

Just then, footsteps could be heard coming back into the room. "Ah, I see you've met our boys," Stephanie said with a smile, carrying a tiny yellow bundle in her arms. "This is Timothy Harold and Ernest Gregory, and this is baby Lauren Evelyn," she told Rose.

Rose smiled. "Aww, how old are they?" she asked.

"Timmy's four, Ernie's two, and Laurie's the baby she's only a few weeks old," Stephanie replied.

"They all look so much like you!" Rose exclaimed. "None of the looks from your husband?" she asked.

"Well, Harry's got blonde hair and light eyes too, so they get it from us both," Stephanie explained. "Would you like a cup of tea? I'll make your mother one as well, for when she wakes up," she said, changing the subject.

Rose smiled. "Oh yes please, thank you," she said. "So...your father brought us here?" she asked.

Stephanie nodded. "Yes. He's gone back to Philadelphia to resign from working with the Hockleys. He wants to be home with his grandchildren," she said. "I've met Nathan Hockley, the father, once. I was little. I didn't like him very much, and Caledon pulled my pigtails." She poured some tea and handed Rose a cup.

Rose stifled a giggle. "Cal never changed," she commented. "He's nothing compared to the man I met on Titanic..." she let out a sad sigh, as tears welled in her eyes again.

"Oh, the steerage boy called Jack Dawson? Father's talked about how much shite you two gave him," Stephanie smiled gently, patting Rose's back. "I'm so sorry for your loss, it must be awful. I couldn't imagine losing Harry like that," she said.

"We'd only known eachother for that short voyage, but it was true love, and for a little while everything had been perfect. The maiden voyage of the unsinkable ship, a forbidden romance on the waves, I thought we had everything. But then he caught hypothermia in the water..." Rose shook her head, wiping more tears away. "That's the nightmare I keep having," she said.

"Oh that sounds absolutely awful!" Stephanie's eyes widened. Her expression was one of pure sympathy.

"So how did you and Harold meet?" Rose asked. She figured directing the conversation towards someone else's love life would ease some of her own emotional distress regarding Jack.

"We've been friends since we were children. He's a year older than me, he's 24," Stephanie told her.

"And he's studying Law?" Rose wanted to know.

"Yes. Well, my father always gets it wrong. People always think he's studying actual Law. He's just taking some Business Law and Accounting courses, he wants to be an Accountant," Stephanie clarified.

"Oh I see," Rose nodded. "So, why is it that you live here with your father versus back in England?" she asked.

"Mum and Dad stopped getting along. Mum missed England, Dad wanted to stay for his job. She took my brothers back with her, but I wanted to stay, I was already married and had little Timmy," Stephanie said.

"Oh. Do you miss your mother and brothers?" Rose asked.

"A bit, but they visit here often enough, when Dad's off on business that is," Stephanie replied. Lauren cooed in her mother's arms and Stephanie cradled her.

"I see," Rose nodded again. She sipped her tea.

Across the room, Ruth began to stir. "Have some tea, Mrs. DeWitt Bukater," Stephanie said. Ruth nodded tiredly and took a sip from her spot on the sofa.

They talked for awhile longer, until Rose began to drift off again. Stephanie told her go get some more sleep and she went off to make food for her children. Rose noted that even though the Lovejoy-Earls family was well enough off, they didn't rely on maids to do everything for them, she liked that.

A few hours passed, and this time when she awoke, Lovejoy himself was staring down at her. "Go back to sleep Miss, we'll take care of you here, you don't have to worry about Mr. Hockley anymore."

Rose had to admit that she'd been confused the whole time. Sure, Lovejoy was only a bastard because he was doing his job, but she didn't understand how he could suddenly be so quick to disobey Nathan or Cal Hockley.

"Why are you being so kind to us, Mr. Lovejoy?" she choked out, she couldn't help but ask.

"I didn't know how abusive he really was, a nasty young man. You reminded me of my little Effie a bit, and if any man ever abused her like Mr. Hockley treated you, I'd beat him shitless. I'm not the monster you thought I was, Miss Rose. I was simply doing my job," Lovejoy replied. With that, he got up and turned off the lights in the living room, leaving Rose and her mother to sleep.

_"Never let go, Rose. Promise me."_

_"I promise." _

_Jack Dawson sank to the bottom of the freezing ocean. She cried. But she'd find hope in America. She knew it._


End file.
